Riding toy vehicle for dolls



Sept. 17, 1963 R. GARDEL RIDING TOY VEHICLE FOR DOLLS Filed Jan. 9, 1961 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,103,761 RIDING TOY VEHICLE FGR DOLLS Robert Gardel, 11 Riverside Drive, New York, NY. Filed Jan. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 81,449 4 Claims. (Cl. 46-103) This invention relates to a riding toy vehicle for dolls, and particularly to a wheeled vehicle by which a doll may be supported and which will cause the dolls legs to move in a walking motion as the vehicle is moved.

It is an object of the invention to provide such a toy which will simulate, in part, a hobby horse of the simple head-on-stick type and which is capable of giving the impression that the doll is riding on said hobby horse in the manner which is customary with children.

It is a further object to provide such a vehicle which will support a large doll and can be pulled or pushed, such movement in either direction causing the dolls legs to move with a realistic walking motion.

It is another object to provide such a vehicle with means to permit a doll to be instantly mounted thereon or removed therefrom, while the doll is held very securely in the proper position when supported by the vehicle.

It is also an object to provide certain improvements in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts whereby the foregoing and other objects may efiectively be attained.

At the present time large dolls (e.g., 32" to 36" in height) are quite popular, these dolls being normally equipped with walking mechanism of the type in which movement of either leg forward or backward within the range of a normal walking step causes corresponding motion of the other leg in the opposite direction. Examples of such mechanism may be found in Gardel and Rogovin Patent No. 2,766,135 and the copending application of Gardel Serial No. 40,655, filed July 5, 1960. These large dolls may be led by a child in such a manner as to walk on their own feet, but progress is slow and, in order to really travel any substantial distance, the doll must be carried-by the child or, frequently, by the parent or other companion. An important practical advantage of the present invention is that it provides an easy-rolling support for a doll (particularly a large one) which can eliminate the necessity for much of this burdensome and tiring carrying of the doll. The fact that a doll supported on this vehicle has the appearance of being active (i.e., walking) makes its use much more attractive to a child than merely wheeling the doll in a carriage or stroller, for instance.

A practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of the vehicle;

FIG. 2 represents a side elevation of the vehicle with a doll supported thereon;

FIG. 3 represents a detail vertical section on the line III I-II of FIG. 2, looking forward; and

FIG. 4 represents a detail vertical section on the line 1V'IV of FIG. 2, looking forward.

Referring to the drawings, the vehicle is shown as comprising a main frame bar 1, a front fork 2, and a combined brace 3 and seat 4, the top of the fork 2 being bolted to the bar -1 and the brace 3 being bolted to the fork and to the bar 1 (below the latters connection to the fork) in order to hold all the parts named in rigidly fixed relationship. The seat 4 is constituted by the extension of the brace 3 beyond the bar 1, the seat having a straight part and an upwardly curved part, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The lower extremities of the fork 2 are spaced and provided with holes through which the axle 5 passes, the wheels 6, 6 (preferably rubbertired) being journaled on the outer ends of said axle.

Near its rear (lower) end the frame bar 1 is shown as being slightly offset, at 1', and at the end it is provided with a stub axle 7 on which is journaled the rear wheel 8 (also preferably rubber-tired). The wheel 8 has a crank pin 9 mounted eccentrically and projecting beyond the end of the axle 7 so that the connecting rod 10, engaging said pin, may clear the end of the axle as the wheel rotates. The connecting rod 10 is connected at its front (upper) end to a transversely extending rocker arm '11 which is journaled at its mid-point in a bracket 12 on the under side of the bar 1 directly beneath the seat 4. A pushing handle 13 may conveniently be loosely bolted to the bar 1 between the bracket 12 and the offset .1, the handle being foldable forward, when not in use, to lie along the frame bar, out of the way.

At the front (upper) end of the frame bar 1 is fixed a transversely extending handle-bar 14, near the ends of which are mounted upwardly-extending clips 15, 15, of somewhat springy or resilient material. Also at the front end of the frame bar 1 is fixed, by means of a bracket 16 and spring 17, a representation of the head of a horse 18 (or other animal).

In use, a doll D, of the size and type particularly described above, is seated in the supporting crotch formed by the upper edge of the seat 4 and the adjacent upper surface of the frame bar .1, as shown in FIG. 2. The dolls wrists are snapped into the clips 15, 15, which are made in a size suitable for gripping the wrists firmly and which may also be mounted on the handle-bar so as to permit a slight amount of movement to adjust to the angle at which the dolls wrist crosses the handle-bar. The bracket 12 is so positioned in the fore-and-aft direction that the legs of a doll, seated and clipped in place as just described, will extend downward in front of the rocker arm 11 and close to said arm. When the vehicle with a doll seated thereon is moved, the rotation of the wheel 8 will cause the connecting rod 10 to reciprocate, thus oscillating the rocker arm 11 which causes the dolls legs to execute their normal walking movement. When either half of the arm 11 swings forward it pushes the corresponding leg forward and the walking mechanism in the doll moves the other leg back to a position where it is ready to be pushed by the other half of the arm 11 to take the next step.

The size of the wheel 8, the position of the crank pin 9 and the spacing of the connection between rod 10 and arm 11 from bracket 12 are calculated and coordinated so that the walk-ing movement of the dolls legs will bear a reasonable relation to the rate of its forward progress.

Even a large doll is very much lighter than a child of the same size, so that the present vehicle need not have the strength of construction required in a tricycle of the same size. An example of this simplification is the onesided support for the rear wheel 8 on a stub axle instead of providing a fork with live axle and crank. also the seat 4 is purely utilitarian with no need for considerations of comfort and, in fact, is normally concealed by the dolls skirt when in use. So far as the child is concerned, a doll supported on this vehicle is supposed to be walking on her own feet while pretending to ride a stick type hobby horse. As a practical result the child enjoys pushing the doll along at a reasonable rate and the childs parent or companion is neither hindered by a slow-walking doll nor burdened by having to carry it. if the child decides that the doll may be tired the horse can take over the entire load, visually as well as in fact, merely by moving the dolls legs to a forward position in front of the fork 2 and entirely out of range of the arm 11; the whole combination will be easier to push in this condition, since the arm 11 is no longer doing any work.

The spring mounting of the horses head enables it to bob up and down with passage over any irregularities in the sidewalk or floor. The interconnection of the several elements is such that the vehicle can be folded practically flat for shipment or storage merely by removing a single bolt, which could be any one of the three bolts joining the bar 1, fork 2 and brace 3.

It will be understood that other changes can be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A riding toy vehicle for dolls comprising a main frame which includes an elongatedbar slanting forward and upward, at least three ground wheels, one of the wheels being on a rear axle fixed to the lower rear end of said bar, an axle for the other wheels, supporting connections between said frame and said axles, means connected to the frame for supporting the weight of a doll body, means connected to the frame adjacent the upper front end of said bar for releasably engaging a dolls arms, the supporting means being connected to the bar intermediate its ends and said supporting means and arm engaging means being so positioned as to hold the doll body firmly in a substantially erect position and at a height such that the dolls feet can approach but cannot touch the ground, means connected to said bar at a point between the lower rear end thereof and the point of connection of the doll body supporting means for 4- causing movement of a dolls leg when the doll is supported on said frame with its legs extending downward and means connected to one of the ground wheels for actuating said leg moving means when the vehicle is moved along the ground,

2. A vehicle according to claim 1 in which the leg moving means is a rocker arm pivotally mounted on the frame bar and extending laterally on both sides thereof.

3. A vehicle according to claim 1 in which the ground wheels include two laterally spaced front wheels on said axle, and in which the supporting connection between said two axles and the main frame comprises a front fork fixed to the main frame bar between the upper front end thereof and the point of connection of the doll body supporting means.

4. A vehicle according to claim 1 in which the doll arm engaging means includes a handle bar fixed to the main frame bar adjacent the upper front end thereof and spring clips fixed to said handle bar and adapted to engage releasably the wrists of a doll.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,960,981 Stocker May 29, 1934 2,035,870 Dombrowski Mar. 31, 1936 2,578,682 Fernstrom Dec. 18, 1951 

1. A RIDING TOY VEHICLE FOR DOLLS COMPRISING A MAIN FRAME WHICH INCLUDES AN ELONGATED BAR SLANTING FORWARD AND UPWARD, AT LEAST THREE GROUND WHEELS, ONE OF THE WHEELS BEING ON A REAR AXLE FIXED TO THE LOWER REAR END OF SAID BAR, AN AXLE FOR THE OTHER WHEELS, SUPPORTING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SAID FRAME AND SAID AXLES, MEANS CONNECTED TO THE FRAME FOR SUPPORTING THE WEIGHT OF A DOLL BODY, MEANS CONNECTED TO THE FRAME ADJACENT THE UPPER FRONT END OF SAID BAR FOR RELEASABLY ENGAGING A DOLL''S ARMS, THE SUPPORTING MEANS BEING CONNECTED TO THE BAR INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS AND SAID SUPPORTING MEANS AND ARM ENGAGING MEANS BEING SO POSITIONED AS TO HOLD THE DOLL BODY FIRMLY IN A SUBSTANTIALLY ERECT POSITION AND AT A HEIGHT SUCH THAT THE DOLL''S FEET CAN APPROACH BUT CANNOT TOUCH THE GROUND, MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID BAR AT A POINT BETWEEN THE LOWER REAR END THEREOF AND THE POINT OF CONNECTION OF THE DOLL BODY SUPPORTING MEANS FOR CAUSING MOVEMENT OF A DOLL''S LEG WHEN THE DOLL IS SUPPORTED ON SAID FRAME WITH ITS LEGS EXTENDING DOWNWARD AND MEANS CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE GROUND WHEELS FOR ACTUATING SAID LEG MOVING MEANS WHEN THE VEHICLE IS MOVED ALONG THE GROUND. 